This is project is  a call to Creative Activism called C.A.R/E. I’m going to participate in it for the next 10 days- for me this project is a challenge in that I don’t feel creative right now.  I’m not seeing a lot of good here in the US right now. It’s really hard  for me feel inspired when the world around me  is being flushed down the toilet one atom at a time. I’m probably not doing these prompts as they were intended to be used- but that’s okay. I think what matters is that  I remember when I used to feel sad, I used to just sing really loud.

Photographer/Artist Unknown

When I was a kid, my Grandma Ginger and Grandpa Bert used to teach me songs to sing songs they enjoyed from their youth.

These  weren’t formal lessons, we sang A cappella  and they seemed to enjoy it when I changed up the lyrics up-dancing and creating little skits as  I sang was heavily encouraged.

When I  look back at it, these little jam sessions always took place in the evenings-especially  if the day had been a little to long and very trying. It was how we boosted our spirits. 

This was a song that I loved to sing at the tops of my lungs and as an added flourish I would end this particular song with a magic trick. Don’t ask me why, I was like eight years old at the time:

Down at an English fair
One evening I was there
When I heard a showman shouting underneath the flair

I’ve got a lovely bunch of coconuts
There they are a’standing in a row
Big ones, small ones, some as big as your head
“Give ’em a twist, a flick o’ the wrist”
That’s what the showman said!

I’ve got a lovely bunch of coconuts
Every ball you throw will make me rich
There stands me wife
The idol of me life
Singing, “Roll up, bowl a ball, a penny a pitch!”

Singing, “Roll up, bowl a ball, a penny a pitch!”
Singing, “Roll up, bowl a ball, a penny a pitch!”
Roll up, bowl a ball
Roll up, bowl a ball
Singing, “Roll up, bowl a ball, a penny a pitch!”

(I’ve got a lovely bunch of coconuts)
They’re lovely!
(There they are a’standing in a row)
One, two, three, four!
(Big ones, small ones, some as big as your head)
And bigger!
(“Give ’em a twist, a flick o’ the wrist”, that’s what the showman said!)

Now that I’ve got a lovely bunch of coconuts
Every ball you throw will make me rich
(Have a banana!)
There stands me wife
The idol of me life
Singing, “Roll up, bowl a ball, a penny a pitch!”

All together now!
(Singing, “Roll up, bowl a ball, a penny a pitch!”)
Harmony!
(Singing, “Roll up, bowl a ball, a penny a pitch!”)
R-r-roll up bowl a ball
(Roll up bowl a ball)
Singing “Roll up, bowl a ball, a penny a pitch!”

Singing “Roll up, bowl a ball, a penny a pitch!”

Note: The line Roll or bowl the ball refers to the game of Cricket “Roll! meaning underarm and “bowl” meaning overarm.

#CreativeR3volution